Fateful Intention
by ForgottenXGuardian785
Summary: Kat wakes up one chilly November 1st to find that she remembers nothing about her life. And is that a... fairy flying around her in a panic! My remake of the 2013 anime Amnesia with a twist and my own OC's.
1. A Blank Canvas

**I'm just putting in a note to say, that until the main character remembers her name, I will write 'Her' and 'She' as her name. I know this can get confusing as the sprite is female as well but it is only for a small part of the story and I did not want to use 'Heroine' like the anime did. Enjoy!**

**Guardian-san :)**

* * *

**A Blank Canvas**

"Wake up! Hey! Hello?! Can you hear me?" An insistent child-like voice called out in Her ear.

Opening her eyes slowly, she saw a strange-looking young girl peering over her. This surprised her so she sat up quickly, causing the stranger to shy away in fright.

"Ah! So you CAN see me!" The girl was… floating?!

"Wh-Who..?" She stammered, wondering if she was still half asleep.

"Laxes. My name is Laxes. And this is going to be hard for you to believe. But I'm a sprite." The little floating girl crossed her arms and legs while sitting in mid-air.

Now that She had a better look at her, she could see Laxes looked no older than ten years old. The sprite was wearing a long dark grey coat with many buckle fastenings over a rather over-sized, baggy pale blue t-shirt and white leggings. She had bare feet and two pointed dog ears sticking out of her unruly short silver hair. She stared back at Her with bright emerald eyes narrowed in a sulky expression.

"I-I believe you." She stammered quietly.

"Good, at least that's sorted out." Laxes sighed, looking relieved suddenly. "So who are you?"

"I…" She thought for a moment.

Nothing came. No name, no memory, just blankness. She tried again, harder. More blankness, like a solid, almost tangible wall in her mind.

"I-I…"

"Surely you know your own name?!" Laxes looked incredulous.

"I… don't remember…" She looked down in shame.

The sprite groaned and shook her head muttering to herself quietly. She paced up and down in the air for a few moments before turning back to her.

"You don't remember anything do you?" She asked.

She shook her head shyly.

"I-I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Laxes responded, but scowled instead of the smile that usually went with that statement. "At least I don't think it is… Listen, there's one explanation I can think of for this: You've been transported across worlds against your will."

"I… don't understand." She looked immensely confused. _Was this still a dream after all?_

"It's not a dream!" Laxes cried out in frustration and waved her arms. "I was crossing worlds on the way home… and then someone shoved past me, and I… must have knocked into your soul accidently…"

The little sprite suddenly looked very embarrassed and hugged her knees. She tilted her head at Laxes questioningly, still not quite comprehending what was going on.

"I… may have accidently knocked you out of your world and into another, causing your memory loss…" She explained, looking distressed. "…But I promise, I'm going to fix this mess the best I can with my limited powers, and it wasn't my fault anyway! Some great big guy pushed me! I'm only a tiny little sprite, I couldn't hold my own against him!"

"Laxes…" She smiled. "It's ok."

Laxes stopped mid rant and blinked at Her in amazement.

"You… said my name." She murmured. "That's the first time someone here has said it…"

Giggling, She nodded with a smile. "I'll help you. I want to find out who I am again."

"Alright!" Laxes cheered. "Thanks, I'll try my best. So far you're the only one who can see or hear me… But that means I can scout for information easily!"

"So do you know where we are?" She looked around the room properly for the first time.

It was a modest, relatively small room that multi-tasked as a study, living and bedroom. Everything was set in order very neatly, not a book or paper out of place. The bed was in a corner against a wall of glass that appeared to be the only window in the room. Opposite that there was a desk and chair decked out with the usual office essentials. In the centre of the room there was a sofa and coffee table facing a small TV. Beside the TV and in the far corner of the room there were two doors. Judging by the door mat in front of the nearest one, She guessed that was the front door.

"Well, no-one else is around and this is the only bed. So this must be your house." Laxes deduced. "You look like a student."

Before She could reply, a loud buzzing and ringing noise made them both jump. Laxes hid behind Her as she investigated. It was coming from a drawer in the bedside table. Opening it she picked up the offending noise making hesitantly. It was a mobile phone. _My mobile phone, _She supposed.

"Should I answer it?" She asked Laxes.

"Just make it stop!" Laxes cried.

Raising an eyebrow, She pressed the answer button and put it to her ear.

"H-Hello?" She stammered.

"Hey," A soft, deeply bored voice answered. "Just calling to check on you. You feeling alright now?"

"Wh-Why wouldn't I be?" She asked nervously.

"_Try to act natural." _Laxes whispered. "_Stop stuttering._"

"Well alright then, no need to bite my head off." The voice sounded annoyed. "I was worried you might have caught a temperature last night when you complained you were cold and had a headache."

"O-Oh, I'm much better thank you." She stuttered. _Stop stuttering, stop stuttering…_

"You going to come to work today then? I told Ark you might not but we could use help with the new releases if you're fine."

She looked to Laxes helplessly.

"Interaction with people might help you remember something." Laxes looked thoughtful. "But don't tell him you don't remember anything. He might take you to hospital and then you would be isolated."

"Hello..? Kinda need an answer here."

"S-Sorry! Yes I will." She cursed herself silently for stammering again and took a deep breath.

"Hey, you don't need to sound so scared, it's only me!"

"Sorry…"

"Is something wrong? Why do you keep apologising?" The voice was concerned now.

"I…" She racked her empty mind frantically. "Just woke up."

"_Really? That's your excuse?!"_ Laxes slapped her forehead. "_We need to work on your acting skills."_

"I'm sorry, you must be tired."

"I'm alright now…"

"Ok, well just in case, I'll come to pick you up."

"Thank you."

"'Kay, I'll be there in an hour or so. Be ready by then."

"Bye." The phone cut off and she put it down.

"He sounded like he knew you." Laxes commented. "But I don't think we should tell him anything just yet."

"He's listed as… Lark, on my phone." She murmured.

"That's a funny name." Laxes raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to get changed," She decided and got up. "No peeking."

"Hey, I'm no pervert!" The sprite protested.

Smiling, She found some clothes in a drawer under her bed. Taking them out, she went to the door at the far end of the room. Through that was a small kitchen and another door with a lock. Sure enough, behind the second door was a bathroom. She changed quickly into a white blouse, pinstripe shorts and black knee socks. Adding the pinstripe waist-coat she had picked up, she brushed her chocolate brown hair and tied her fringe back.

"…I must be into steampunk…" She commented as she found a pocket watch in the shape of a cog at the sink.

Emerging from the bathroom again, she found a beautiful knee-length coat in the hallway. It was printed with a distinctly Victorian leaf pattern around the edge and fasted with two large buckles at the chest.

"You done?" Laxes voice floated in from the living room.

"Yes," She came back in with the coat.

"I was thinking, you should keep a diary of everything we find out. That way we can see all the information together." The sprite suggested.

"That's a good idea." She went over to the desk and found a blank notebook. "What's the date today..?"

"Your phone." Laxes hovered over it. "I forgot to mention, I'm not actually tangible, so I can't pick stuff up or anything like that."

She picked up her mobile and checked the date. 1st November. Glancing outside she noted the grey weather and frost coating parts of the window. She noted down the date, the weather, about her clothes, about Laxes and about Lark. Just then, the intercom by the front door buzzed. Blinking, she hurried over and pressed the button.

"Yes?" She asked hesitantly, but did not stutter this time.

"Kat? It's me." Lark's voice crackled out of the speaker.

"Oh, Lark, I'm coming." She answered.

"Kat? That must be your name!" Laxes exclaimed excitedly.

"I guess so." She replied with a smile. "I'm glad I have a name now."

She pulled on the knee high boots on the door mat and buckled them quickly. Slipping on the coat she pocketed her phone. There were some keys on the side. After a moment, she decided to take those too. Laxes followed as she hurried out of the door.

Waiting on the ground floor was a tall, skinny-looking goth. His ash mauve hair, although tied in a high ponytail, still reached the middle of his back. There were studs and belts all over his clothes as well as the cartilage of his ears; and the long leather coat he was wearing had no sleeves. Spotting her, he stood up and regarded her with icy blue eyes.

"Well, that was a blast from the past." He remarked with a wry smile.

"Huh?" Kat blinked in confusion.

"It's been years since you've used that ridiculous nickname Zephaniah gave me."

"I…" Kat swallowed nervously.

"_Oh dear…"_ Laxes looked worried.

"Stick to Malachi, it sounds much better when you say it." He told her a little sternly. "You're not wearing your hat today?"

"It's pretty cold out there today, but I guess the guys mess around with your topper at work so I understand. Just go catching a cold okay?" Malachi shrugged.

"O-Okay." She stammered, unable to calm her voice this time. "Let's go."


	2. Dutiful Confusion

Kat stared up at the colossal building in front of here. Albeit squashed between two other buildings and abnormally slim for a building it was almost double the height of its neighbour and built on a slight slant not unlike a stereotypical haunted house. It was painted black with silver railing at the windows making it look rather gothic. But not in the same gothic punk style that Malachi obviously liked. Laxes floated at her right and gazed at the shop in awe.

"_It's… huge…_" She murmured.

"Yeah…" Kat nodded slowly.

"Huh?" Malachi blinked at her, not hearing Laxes.

"Oh!" She blushed in embarrassment, realising this. "N-Nothing, just thinking to myself. So let's get going hey?"

"You're keen today." He remarked with a raised eyebrow.

They walked off in different directions; Kat towards the front entrance, Malachi down the street. He came back and stopped her just as she was about to open the door. Jumping in alarm, she blinked up at him.

"Staff entrance down here remember? Ark will flip if you walk the customer entrance." He rolled his eyes. "Geeze, what would you do without me?"

"I-I'm sorry!" She looked down.

Malachi sighed and pulled her into a quick hug before dragging her down to the end of the street and round the back of the shops. Laxes hovered after them anxiously, Kat was blushing a little from the hug.

"_What was that about?_" Laxes asked.

"I-" She stopped herself from speaking aloud just in time. '_I don't know… I guess he's a pretty close friend?' _

"C'mon!" Malachi called back to her and she hurried after him, through a quirky, old fashioned looking door engraved with the words 'Staff Only'. Inside was a small locker room where two girls sat and chatted on the bench in the middle. They looked up when they saw Malachi and Kat come in.

"Kat~!" The blue-haired one cried out and hugged her.

Kat staggered back a little. "H-Hey…" She mumbled, taken aback.

"I was worried when Malachi said you might not by coming in today, are you feeling alright?"

"Fine." She assured the clingy blunette.

"Good!" She let go suddenly. "Ark wasn't too happy either, especially with The Dragon Stone and Starlit Sky coming out today!"

"Ah… ye-es…" Kat tried not to look completely confused. She still had not worked out what type of shop this was or what she was going to be doing there. Seeing her plight, Laxes floated past the others and through the opposite door to investigate. Kat glanced after to her, a little daunted at the thought of being left alone with these strangers.

"You gonna get ready? Shift starts soon, people are starting to crowd around the doors." The other girl, a grumpy, honey-gold haired teen drawled.

"U-Uh, yeh, of course." She nodded quickly, looking around desperately. She needed Laxes, she was floundering here, what was she supposed to do. A locker with the label 'Kitty Kat' on it caught her eye and she walked over to it. Grasping the handle, she tried to open it. It rattled but did not budge, it was locked. She remembered the keys she had grabbed on the way out of her apartment and retrieved them from her pocket. One of them must go to the locker. She fumbled around for a few moments, testing each one and hoping the others were not looking at her strange. Finally she found the one that fit, a small crudely cut little key. The locker swung open to reveal what looked like a shine to her personality. The floor of the locker was strewn with sketches and stray bits of wire all centred around a pile of books that did not look as if they had been touched. There was a coat hook on the door that held an apron embroidered with the words 'The Abandoned Attic'. She took her coat off and swapped it for the apron. Noticing the other girls changing into plain shirts, she took her waist coat as well. Laxes floated back in and watched her curiously

"_It's a book shop._" The little sprite explained. "_There are some popular books coming out today so people are crowding outside the front entrance… Your manager looks pretty scary._"

'_Really?_' Kat though back to her worriedly. '_Why what does he look like?_'

"Did you read the next batch of latest's?" The blonde asked her while, tying her apron around her waist.

"H-Huh?" Kat blinked out of her conversation with Laxes. "I-I…"

"Oh Kat, not again. Ark's going to be really mad at you this time." The blunette sighed sympathetically. "Seriously, what have you been doing all week?"

"You haven't even taken them out of your locker!" The blonde peered over her shoulder.

"I-I, well, uh… was pretty busy… I guess." Kat swallowed and tried to make up an excuse. "Please don't tell him!"

"We won't need to, what's going to happen when a customer asks you your opinion of it? How are you supposed to recommend anything, especially with the new releases!" The blunette regarded her anxiously.

"Wh-What if I read the blurbs on the backs of them now and form an opinion?!" Kat grabbed the first book off the top of the pile in her lock and sat resolutely down on the bench. The two girls watched her doubtfully while Laxes folded her arms and stuck her tongue out at them.

"I won't be much later, cover for me until I'm done." She told them.

Suddenly the blonde laughed and ruffled her hair. Kat blinked and looked up at her in confusion.

"Katherine's back!" She smirked. "I was beginning to think you were someone else, messing about with your keys and stuttering all over the place. We'll keep the battleaxe's mind off you for as long as possible ok? Now get reading!"

The blunette giggled and nodded in agreement with her friend before they both left to go and start work. Kat took a deep breath and glared at the teaser paragraph on the back of the volume. She needed to read this quickly, and remember it. Remember… Apparently she had been very good at that lately. But now was no time to think negatively, she had a mission and she was going to achieve it!

"_That's the spirit!_" Laxes encouraged. "_I'll read with you so that if you do forget anything I know it too._"

'_Thanks._' Kat smiled thankfully at her and went back to her reading. By the time she was halfway through the pile, someone opened the door again. She looked up in fright, thinking it was Ark the scary manager. Malachi raised an eyebrow at her.

"Not done your research again?" He sighed and shook his head. "I guess that's why Cheerios and Vivi are bothering Ark so much. Hurry ok?"

"'Kay." She nodded. "Tell them to hang in there."

"Will do, it's like a riot in there already, wish me luck." He rubbed his forehead ruefully.

"Good luck." She smiled sweetly and moved on to her next book.

10 minutes later and she was done. Locking the books back in her locker, she peered through the door to the shop. In actual fact it was the door to the staff hallway, Laxes peeked around above her. On the right there was a door behind which a lot of noise was coming from. She assumed that must be the real door to the shop. In the hallway there was a tall, handsome figure that seemed to be spaced out against the opposite wall. Kat walked out and tapped his shoulder curiously.

"Hm?" He looked up from his thoughts. "Oh hey Kat, I'm glad you're not feeling ill anymore."

Although the only light came through the blinded window of the shop door, Kat could see enough to make out the boy's dark mauve hair was wavy and long below his shoulders. It was tied back in a loose ponytail. He was wearing a name badge wit printed onto it. Jaden was built tall and slim like a model and in combination with his lucid gold eyes he was rather dashing.

"Y-You knew out that?" She asked.

"Of course, I was there silly." He raised an eyebrow. "You must have been feeling really bad last night to have forgotten."

"O-Oh yeah, sorry." She looked down apologetically.

"No need for that, it was my fault for leaving early. Some fans spotted me and I had to leave with that goth guy of yours. I still won't accept you and him, ok? I'll sweep you off your feet one day."

"Wh-What do you mean?!" Kat blushed furiously.

"I don't know what you see in that depressed roughneck, but then, you have known him longer than me." Jaden sighed. "Maybe you're doing this out of pity..?"

"I-I don't understand." She stammered. "And shouldn't you be helping out, the new released are out now."

"I took a break for some air." He explained. "Despite what you all seem to think having women draped over me constantly does bother me sometimes."

"_What an arrogant snob!_" Laxes huffed, pulling a face at him.

"W-Well, I'm going in." Kat forced herself to stop blushing and walk past him. Did this mean she was going out with Malachi? Or maybe he just thought they were… Opening the door she was confronted by a blast of loud voices, tills and moving bodies. She reeled a little before focusing on the situation. Malachi, and the other girls, Vivi and… Cheerios was it? That was a strange name, stranger than Lark.

"_Maybe it's another nickname" _Laxes suggested. "_You must know these people well, they all knew you were ill last night…_"

She nodded and looked around again. All the employees, Malachi, the girls and two other, very tall people in the shop uniform were swamped by eager customers. One of the employees she did not know turned to her awkwardly. Well over six foot, sickly pale and wearing a blind fold over his eyes, he seemed to regard her with a stern aura.

"Katherine, you're late. We've been needing help for quite some time now, especially since Jaden have mysteriously disappeared."

"I'm sorry." Kat swallowed. This must be the scary manager. Why did he wear a blindfold?

"Go and help the girls by the door, they're having the most trouble." Ark turned back to the customers he was dealing with. Kat waded her way through the people, murmuring apologies as she battled her way to the front of the shop. Vivi and 'Cheerios' were welcoming customers in while manning the pyramids of books that were the new release display. The blunette, she still did not know which was which, beckoned her frantically.

"You take The Dragon Stone, it's slightly less popular, only slightly." She huffed. "Welcome back to the Attic, we hope you'll find another world within our shelves!" She was diverted by another onslaught of people. Meanwhile Kat struggled to the right stand. Laxes floated above her anxiously, looking a little traumatised by the whole ordeal. A stranger caught her attention.

"Excuse me, I've heard this book has critical acclaim, what can you tell me about it?"

"U-Uh, well, it's the awaited climax of a trilogy," Kat struggled to keep her voice heard above the din. "The Mythic Stone trilogy. So the adventure is coming to an exciting close, the ending is very surprising, but I won't spoil it for you."

"_You can't, you don't know the ending._" Laxes rolled her eyes.

'_I'm supposed to be making it sound appealing.'_ Kat snorted back up at her.

"That does sound interesting, maybe I'll get the trilogy." The customer decided. "Do you know where the other books can be found, it's an awfully large store you know."

"Yes, it is…" Kat agreed grimly. "Well, I can't leave here to show you but, um…"

She looked around frantically before spotting Malachi.

"Malachi!" She called. "Could you help this person with directions?!"

He looked up from his own crowd and beckoned them with a welcoming smile. To her relief, they shuffled over to him and someone else began to pester her.


	3. Love is a Fierce and Caring Emotion

"Alright! It's closing time I'm afraid!" Ark yelled over the noise of literature fanatics. "We're sold out of The Mythic Stone trilogy and Breathless Passion series and their latest instalments! Come back in a couple of weeks' time for our restock and signing from the authors on respective days, updates on the specifics will be put on display as soon as possible."

There was a collective moan and people began to filter out. A few lingered on who had not been interested in buying the all popular new releases but just to look for a new read. The employees breathed out audibly as the final one trudged out of the door with a cheery goodbye.

"Come back soon!" Vivi called after them cheerfully, she seemed to have an unlimited good mood to hand out.

"Please don't…" April muttered after her, who evidently did not have any happiness to share. April was Cheerios, Kat had been able to read her name tag once the crowd had begun to dissipate. The second tall guy was Zeck. He was a gentle giant with the same temperament as Vivi but taller than seven foot and strong as an ox. His silver hair was short and spiked up and his bright blue eyes sparkled with energy despite the hours on end of shouting, battling crowds and carrying mountains of books he had just done. Ark yawned and leaned down behind the counter.

"Good work, you can go, we'll clear up tomorrow." He sighed and pulled up a bottle of wine.

Kat blinked in disbelief as he casually poured himself a glass of wine. Laxes tutted in disgust but the others did not seem fazed by it. They just stretched and trudged slowly back to the locker rooms. Kat did not follow but took the time to look around the book shop properly, or that floor of it at least. The ground floor was a spacious multilevel room lined with shelves across every wall apart from the front display. The floor was a darkish wood covered in paper and wrapping from the evening's rampage. Around the right corner at the back was a black railed spiral staircase up to the first floor that the boys had spent most of their time running up and down with the customers.

"Kat?" Malachi called from the staff door. "You coming?"

"Yeh, just a minute." She turned her head and nodded at him.

"_Looks like you might be spending a lot of time here._" Laxes commented. "_Your colleagues seem nice, apart from that Jaden guy… I'd keep away from him._"

"None the less, he seemed to know me well…" Kat murmured back, letting her guard slip.

"What was that?" Ark's dry gravelly voice caught her attention. "Too much work for you tonight? I should hire more people?"

"N-No, it was nothing." Kat shook her head quickly.

"Ah I see, you don't want your wages to be cut." He smirked. "It's true we could use a few extra hands, I'll get my kids to come and help next time. Amber was busy today and Jasper caught handle crowds so I didn't ask them today."

"Th-That's fine." Kat swallowed. "I'm sure there are more difficult things in life…"

"That's true." Ark finished his glass of wine and promptly poured himself another. "Very true…"

He seemed to be getting rather distant, sipping the deep red liquid steadily. A few minutes later he was pouring himself a third glass.

"Should you really be drinking that much..?" Kat asked cautiously.

"This?" Ark held up the glass. "S not much at all. I'll get home fine if that's what you're worried about."

"O-Ok…" She nodded and hurried through the staff door.

In the girls' locker room April and Vivi were having an animated conversation about something she could not quite understand as of yet. Instead she concentrated on getting changed and wondering how on earth she was going to those books home that she was supposed to have read. April looked up for a moment.

"So what do you think?"

"Me?" Kat stared at her in confusion.

"Her and Zephaniah?" The blonde tilted her head to Vivi.

"Zephaniah..?"

"Zeck." April rolled her eyes. "You'd think you'd remember after spending your childhood with him.

_Thinking about it hadn't Malachi mentioned a Zephaniah? So Zeck was a friend as well?!_ She looked over to Vivi thoughtfully. The blunette was uncharacteristically quiet and blushing furiously. Laxes giggled and nodded her head while Kat mulled it over in her head for a moment. _They were very similar…_ They would probably make a very cute couple.

"Perfect." She replied decisively. "Have you asked him?"

"Kat!" Vivi squealed. "Don't go jumping the gun!"

"What?" She was even more confused. "…He's not that scary is he?"

"Well, no, but… Zeck is really shy about this type ok? I don't want to scare him away…" Vivienne murmured, hunching dreamily. "You know a lot about him don't you? What sorts of stuff does he like, apart from food and blue?"

"Uh, well…" Kat bit her lip, of course, she could not remember. "I'll… have to get back to you on that one."

April sniggered. "Sounds like your dream guy is as simple as he sounds, Vivienne."

Shouting from the boys' room distracted them. Standing up, the girls hurried out into the corridor. Just as April wrenched the door open, someone was shoved against the wall beside it, making Vivienne scream a little. Laxes swept out to take a better look. Jaden had Malachi pinned against the wall and was evidently trying to strangle the other boy. Zeck burst out of boys' room and tried to separate them.

"You bastard!" Jaden growled. "How dare you!"

"Let's not get too angry about this…" Zeck managed to rip Jaden from Malachi's throat. "You're scaring the girls."

Malachi bent double coughing raucously. Jaden snarled and wrestled in the bigger boy's impregnable grip. Kat bent down to Malachi in time to see him spit blood contemptuously. Her eyes widened and she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" She asked in concern.

"Fine…" He panted with a reassuring grimace. "Don't worry about me, I get into enough fights as it is…"

Kat bit her lip worriedly, not sure what to do. Catching her look, Malachi ruffled her hair with a throaty chuckle.

"Hey, it's me. I'll be fine." He smirked. "Are you ready to go, I'll walk you back just to prove I'm ok."

Blushing a little Kat nodded and stood up. Zeck was still holding Jaden back while April tried to calm him down. Vivienne watched helplessly from the side. The shop door slammed open and distracted every.

"Wha's going on?!" Ark roared, swaying unsteadily on his feet. "Wha's all-a noise abou'?!"

"H-He's drunk…" Vivienne swallowed nervously.

Jaden glanced at Ark, taken aback and stopped struggling. Zeck let go of him compliantly and looked up to their manager apprehensively. Malachi managed to get to his feet shakily.

"Well?!" The skinny, intoxicated man demanded.

"Malachi and I…" Jaden gritted his teeth. "Had a misunderstanding…"

"Righ' well you take I' ou'side nex time okay?!" Ark growled.

"I understand." Malachi nodded quickly.

The two boys exchanged shifty glances at each other before Malachi took Kat's arm and lead her back through the girls' room. Laxes followed quickly. Behind them the drunken yells of Ark and the consoling voices of April and Zeck floated from under the door. Malachi picked up her books as she struggled with her coat.

"What was that about?" She asked him hesitantly once they had got outside.

"…" Malachi looked down. "I'm sure you've worked out by now, Jaden likes you."

Kat coloured brightly.

"H-He was pretty clear about that before work." She admitted in embarrassment. "But how does that concern you?"

"How do you think that concerns me?!" Malachi's head snapped back up to gaze at her fiercely. "I don't care how many girls he can pick up with his face, there's one he just has to accept he can't steal!"

"I-I'm sorry!" She squeaked, blushing brighter. "I-I for…"

She swallowed before she could admit her amnesia again.

"It didn't occur to me." She corrected herself.

Malachi smiled ruefully and hefted the pile of books he was holding.

"Come here, would you walk a little nearer until we get to your house, seeing as my hands are full." He asked softly.

Swallowing, Kat nodded and shuffled closer to him. She remembered the hug he had given her beforehand and hunched a little. The tall punk's hair brushed her back as he walked beside her. Laxes smirk teasingly at her, floating backwards in front of them as they rounded the corner of her street. She tried her best not to glare warningly at the sprite and instead sent her cautionary thoughts.

"You've been quiet today." Malachi commented. "Usually you'd be moaning about the crowd today, Ark's drunkness and the fact that Ienzo once again neglected to turn up on a day where all of us were needed at the shop."

"I.." Kat froze.

"If you were unwell you should have just said." He glanced down at her sternly. "I could have marched up to that introvert's house and dragged him out into the sunshine."

"I'm not." She protested. "I guess I just… It was pretty loud today."

She did have a headache coming on from the day's events and trying to remember everything. And of course the current awkward situation.

"Usually you'd be singing along with Vivi." Malachi turned on her.

Before she had time to react he leaned forward and head-butted her. When she tried to step back, he shifted the books into one hand and grabbed her shoulder tightly.

"Wh-What are you doing?!" She cried.

"Checking if you have a fever." He replied, letting go of her and straightening up again. "I don't think so… But you should rest ok? No staying up late for projects, if you get in trouble with your profs I'll take responsibility."

She nodded swallowing audibly. Laxes laughed out loud.

"_Aw, isn't he just the sweetest, most caring…_"

'_Be quiet sprite'_

"_Ok, ok, no need to get touchy…"_

"Well, here we are, are you going to be alright with those?" Malachi looked down at the books.

"I'll be fine." She took them from him. "It's reading them that will be the problem."

"Just call if you need any help." He smiled.

She turned to go and found herself being held back again. She looked up at Malachi questioningly.

"What, no kiss goodbye?" He pouted teasingly.

Kat went bright red.

"Oh that's right, we're still going through our shy 'I'm not ill but I really am' stage." He folded his arms.

"I'm not ill!" She sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll do it for you." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek softly. "See you later."

Kat was speechless, and feeling rather faint. Even Laxes was a little taken aback. The sprite stared after Malachi as he walked away, dumbstruck, before looking back to Kat. She had found herself after a moment and was lugging the books inside the foyer. After a second, Laxes followed her silently.


	4. Demons in her Dreams

**A/N: **So I'm in trouble. I've been trying to write this chapter for MONTHS I'm so sorry it took so long! Thank you all those who posted lovely reviews you're really who keep me motivated to write! The next update should be much sooner now that I've got my inspiration back!

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Lying on her bed, Kat gazed at her ceiling idly. Thoughts from the previous evening were still swimming about her mind. That morning she had found a calendar with all her work and university dates on it. She was free today but had no idea what to do. Having read over her notes on memories several times she found her mind inevitably drifting back to Malachi.

"Ah, young love~" Laxes smirked as she floated mischievously above her.

"Stop looking in there!" Kat put her hands over her head with a light blush. "Technically I only met him yesterday… Unless I'm reacting to some blocked experience or something…"

"So you haven't remembered anything yet?" Laxes looked a little disappointed. "You were around that lot for ages yesterday."

"No…" Kat sighed and sat up. "Well anyway, I should probably do something, this isn't helping anything."

She gazed down at the pile of books she had brought home from the shop yesterday. Picking the top one up slowly, she leaned back against her wall and opened it. _Might as well get a start on these_. She had picked up the romance novel. As she concentrated on the story the words began to blur and weave each other into a vivid picture in her imagination. The girl and her troubles, in the very city Kat lived in, in an apartment block perhaps not so far from her own. And the boy, a newcomer, mysterious and with one unknown purpose, as of yet… Oh no, she was stuck in an alleyway, those thugs who had been following her had trapped her there. They were going to hurt her, one reached and grabbed her arm roughly and Kat could feel his grip as if it was happening to her herself. And then, suddenly it was.

She was in a backstreet, the noise and bustle of the city left far behind her. Even if there was a small whisper of it floating on the wind she doubted she would be able to hear it over the scene unfolding in front of her. Someone was standing in front of her, blocking her view of the situation but she could just see the glares of a group of roughnecks over their shoulder. They were yelling and snarling abuse at each other, fists clenched or reaching to various places she assumed for weapons. Kat wanted to run and get away from the imminent danger but she was frozen to the spot. A spot of light reflected in her eye told her that at least one knife had been drawn. The stranger was very tall with long hair that she could not quite make out the colour of because of the sun shining directly in front of him. Before she could register what was happening he was no longer in front of her. Instead there was the scuffle of bodies shoved into each other, grunts and roars and groans of pain. To her horror they had begun to brawl.

"No! Stop!" She called out, but they did not seem to hear her, just as she could not quite make out their words.

The fight did not last long, only a few minutes but by the time it was over all four of the brutes was slumped on the floor, bruised and bloodied. The boy who had blocked her view lay on his back panting, the knife he had taken lay in his open palm. Curious and a little worried, Kat walked over to investigate. Now that she could see him more clearly the colour of his hair seemed familiar and his build, as well as the tone of his tone. Hearing her approach, he turned his head to face her and her heart stopped.

"Kat… Were you there the whole time?" Malachi asked roughly. "It's dangerous to hang around here."

Kat was frozen again. He had beaten those boys up, with their own knife. She swallowed in terror. He could have just intimidated them or warned them off but no. She glanced around at the other boys. They were not moving, unconscious or too much in pain to do anything but lay on the ground. He had saved her from them it was true but in this state she could not help but feel sorry for them. Malachi himself had a few cuts on his bare arms and face but other than that he was unharmed. His cool blue eyes watched her reaction with a tired resignation. He truly did not care what she thought any more, this was the real him, an animal unleashed. Scared, confused and at a loss for words Kat finally gained the courage to look away and woke up in her room.

The book had fallen onto her chest, face down on the page she had been at. Laxes was up in her face again, staring curiously like she had been when they had first met yesterday. She was breathing heavily as if she had just woken up from a bad dream but it did not feel like she had been gone for long.

"I… think I just remembered something…" She finally managed to croak out.

"Are you alright?" Laxes asked with a frown. "You went pale suddenly and dropped the book."

"I don't know…" Kat sighed, hugging her knees.

"What did you remember?" Laxes asked, hovering cross-legged in front of her.

"It was about Malachi… I was in an alley and he was fighting this gang of guys…" She hunched. "He took it too far, those guys were out cold, some of them had head injuries and none of them could even move to get away. He didn't even spot me until the end, it was like he did it all the time or something."

Laxes floated about thoughtfully, taking in all that her human had said. Kat walked her flip in slow motion and felt a little better. There was nothing like a whimsical little sprite to make you smile when you felt down.

"Sounds like he might have some violence problems. Didn't he say he got into a lot of fights yesterday?" Laxes remarked. "And that argument with Jaden got pretty heated… Maybe you should keep your distance."

"But he was so nice to me…" Kat mumbled. "I'll be careful from now on."

She lay back and yawned. Despite the fact she had not done very much today at all, that flashback had made her rather tired. As she stared at her white ceiling she could feel her eyelids beginning to droop… A high-pitched ring jolted her back to alertness again. Her phone was buzzing and ringing from her bedside table again. Sitting up blearily, she picked it up, Laxes cowering behind her. Apparently she was still afraid of the loud noise the little electric device made.

"Hello..?" She asked lethargically.

"Oh dear, you do sound ill, was this a bad time to call?" A soft, impeccably clipped voice replied.

"No, no.. it's fine…" She mumbled without thinking, and then it struck her. "Who is this..?"

"Heh, apparently I've been away for far too long." The voice chuckled silkily. "It's Ienzo, your supervisor, upperclassman and designs tutor. Remember me? I've been away on a couple of trips and I know the others are mad at me for skipping work yesterday so I decided to call the person least likely to bite my head off…"

"Oh… yeah, sorry. It's been a while." She smiled despite herself, this person sounded more scatter-brained than she was at the moment.

"Malachi texted me saying that you might be ill a couple of days ago and it certainly sounds like it. Do you need me to get you anything?"

"Oh no, it's fine, I'm not ill. Just a little tired, I'm trying to get through all those books we were supposed to read for work." Kat explained.

"Not done your homework again." Ienzo tutted. "You're going to have to catch up quickly, I want to pick up on the quality of our reviews and recommendations for Ark. If you're free why don't you come over to mine and I'll give you the low down."

"Uh… yeah. I'll do that, are you busy at the moment?" She bit her lip.

"No I'm idling at the moment."

"…Do you still live in the same place…?" She asked weakly, hoping that no questions would be raised.

"Oh! How forgetful of me, no. I've upgraded to an apartment uptown, I'll text you some directions."

She breathed out in relief.

"Thanks Ienzo. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"See you soon then." He hung up.

"Apparently they're my tutor. But they sound pretty unorganised to me." Kat shrugged, pulling her boots on. "Now what did I forget yesterday?"

She thought for a moment. She had found a big bag to put all the books in and brought a pad since it sounded like Ienzo wanted to teach her something… _Oh yes! Hat, Malachi had mentioned it yesterday. _That morning she had rummaged around and found a top hat to the same style as her outfit, not only that but it had a nice warm lining that would keep her from getting cold in this weather. Donning it she strode out happily. Kat felt a bit happier now that she had something to do. She was still a little disorientated by her memory loss but she had found that if she preoccupied herself she felt more at ease.

As she left her own building a text bleeped on her phone and she opened it to find directions to Ienzo's new place. It was a chilly day and a thick layer of mist had covered the city. People hunched in their coats and scarves, walking with their heads down despite the fact it was already hard to see. Shivering, Kat pulled her hat down over her ears and read the directions thoroughly. It was quite a way up town from her own apartment, she had to walk almost all the way up the high street before turning into a rather modern looking residential area. The towering black skyscrapers did not make any improvement on the mist, only further disorientating her with their colourful lights that glowed through the fog from windows. She was beginning to get frustrated as she walked past yet another identical building when a hand reached out to grab her shoulder. Remembering her flash back Kat jumped and spun around sharply.

"Relax, it's just me." A familiar soft voice chuckled. "You're jumpy today."

The boy who had spoken was very short, barely a couple of inches taller than herself. His jet black hair had been bleached and dyed a bright electric purple at the front. He had an asymmetrical cut that meant a long fringe fell over the right side of his face while the left side was short around his ears. His skin was pale and sun starved, highlighting piercingly bright blue eyes that could almost be described as neon. A pair of square-lensed glasses sat jauntily on his nose. Due to his height and stature there was no way he looked any older than her, let alone her age.

"I-Ienzo?" She stammered quickly as Laxes circled him critically. "You've… changed?"

Yet another weak excuse that she did not expect to pass by.

"I've let my hair, after paying for this place I didn't really have the money to go and get it cut." He smiled. "Come on, I'll show you up to my place."


End file.
